T.B. Harms Co. v. Eliscu
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
339 F.2d 823 (2d Cir. 1964)
Composer Vincent Youmans copyrighted four songs in which Edward Eliscu (defendant) held certain rights; as the copyrights neared expiration, Youmans's children and Eliscu filed renewal applications, with the children assigning their renewal rights to T.B. Harms (plaintiff) and Eliscu allegedly agreeing to assign his rights to Harms in exchange for royalties, though he instead assigned them to a third party. Harms sued in federal court seeking a declaration establishing its ownership of the copyrights, and the district court dismissed for lack of federal jurisdiction; Harms appealed.
Whether a lawsuit over who owns rights in a copyright arises under the Copyright Act, and is therefore a federal question, even though it does not involve a claim of infringement or royalties.